The present invention relates to a system for providing information related to a tissue region of a subject and in particular to a system and method for co-displaying medical imaging information and visible light information of the tissue region of the subject.
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women after lung cancer, thus prevention and early diagnosis of breast cancer are of foremost importance.
Numerous studies have shown that early detection saves lives and increases treatment options. Since early stage breast cancer does not produce symptoms, the American Cancer Society recommends a screening mammogram and a clinical breast examination every year for women over the age of 40.
X-ray mammography is currently the most widely used screening modality for breast cancer.
Although mammography is routinely used for breast cancer detection, this approach has limited detection capabilities especially in cases of dense-breasted women, such as those having high content of fibroglandular tissues. Because fibroglandular tissues have higher x-ray absorption than the surrounding fatty tissues, portions of breasts with high fibroglandular tissue content are not well penetrated by x-rays and thus the resulting mammograms contain little or no useful diagnostic information.
To traverse these limitations, mammography is oftentimes supplemented by ultrasound examinations as well as replaced or supplemented by magnetic resonance imaging.
Although combined imaging data can dramatically increase the accuracy of diagnosis, especially when supplemented by image co-registration, there still useful information to be gained from physical examination of breasts, since many physicians feel that breast morphology provides important diagnostic information.
Such physical examination is not possible in cases where diagnosis is provided offsite, for example by expert technicians that review medical images or by remote diagnostic facilities (telemedicine). In such cases the physician does not physically examine the patient and thus has no information related to breast appearance at his or her disposal.
The present inventors propose that supplementing medical imaging information with morphological information can greatly enhance diagnostic accuracy. As such, the present inventors have devised a system which enables co-display of medical imaging information alongside visible image information of a tissue region of interest.